Chapter 33
“Get me there…now,” Raine urged. It was too far for them to run and would take too much time to saddle their horses and ride.
“We need more forces,” Casimir said.
“My family could be in danger. So could Jorrar’s. I’m going now. Send soldiers as soon as you can.”
Emotions warred on Ava’s face.
“Please,” Raine’s voice cracked. He’d already lost his mother. Then Finnick. He refused to lose his sister and father. Not now. Not today. No more.
Casimir acquiesced with a tilt of his head. “Make the portal. I’ll gather more forces and follow immediately.”
Within minutes a swirling vortex appeared before them. A warm hand gently grasped Raine’s and squeezed. Maeryn looked up at him, determination on her face. “Let’s go,” she said and stepped through, pulling him after her.
They emerged on the dirt road in front of Jorrar’s house. It was absolute chaos.
He’d been right. The small force in town was a distraction, because right in front of him lay utter devastation. Homes were burning. Fields were destroyed. Citizens screamed and ran. Horses galloped through broken fences. Livestock barreled down the lane, bloody and panicked.
And several hundred daemon soldiers marched the dirt roads, monsters crawling alongside them.
Raine froze. His heartbeat thudded in his ears. The air smelled of blood and fear. Horrified screams merged with the growls of monsters, death tainting the night.
Jorrar’s house wasn’t on fire, but it appeared as though it had been ransacked. The door sat tilted on its hinges. Windows were broken, flowers trampled.
“Raine.” Maeryn tugged on his arm, breaking his stupor. “Where is your father’s house?”
“I—” he stuttered. “It’s back that way…but…” He gestured to Jorrar’s house.
She moved in front of him and placed a hand on his chest. “Listen to me. Jorrar went inside to search for his grandchildren and your sister. You and I will go look for your father. Help is coming and they will handle this force.”
Casimir and Ava appeared, followed by Quinn, Thorne, Pax and surprisingly…Jareth again.
“We’ll have soldiers here within minutes,” Casimir said. “As soon as they arrive, Ava will make a portal for the citizens to escape back to town. Go find your father.”
Screaming nearby spurred Raine into action. “Alright. This way,” he said to Maeryn.
They sprinted down the dirt road toward his childhood home, Sabriel at his heels.
Raine’s father was not a fighter. He didn’t even own a sword, though he was fairly adept with his magic.
He might be able to protect himself for a short while, but it wouldn’t last long.
Especially if he was surrounded. And he was notoriously stubborn, likely refusing to leave his home.
The farm came into view in the distance, thick black smoke rising into the night.
A stone sank in his stomach. The roof was ablaze, orange flames licking the sky.
Half a dozen soldiers stood before it, laughing as they held someone limp between them, lifting his head and forcing him to watch the house.
Raine’s father.
“Faster!” he urged Maeryn, lungs burning.
“Vines,” Maeryn ordered, fury in her voice, as they came upon the scene.
Raine didn’t hesitate as he encased every single soldier in a net of vegetation, squeezing and breaking their bones. A split second later, Maeryn’s lava crept up the demons’ legs, searing their flesh and burning them alive.
Raine lunged forward, catching his father as he collapsed, and dragged him away from the burning bodies. Kneeling in the grass, Raine put a hand on his face.
“Father?” he whispered.
His father opened his eyes. His face was bloodied and beaten, his eye swollen and lip split. “Son,” he rasped. “You’re here.”
“Of course I am.” Raine trembled at the sight of his injuries. “Everything’s going to be okay. I’ll get you to the healers.”
“Your sister…” his father took a shuddering breath. “They made me watch.”
Raine’s blood ran cold. “Made you watch what? Where is she?”
Bootsteps to Raine’s right rapidly approached, Pax and Jorrar running toward them with a small squad. His father lifted a shaking hand, pointing a finger to the house currently ablaze.
“I’ll get her.” Raine stood, handing his father off to a nearby soldier. “They’re inside!” he shouted, bolting for the house.
A powerful force shoved him back. “You will not go in there, captain!” Maeryn yelled.
“My sister’s in there!” he cried.
Pax charged forward and broke the door with his shoulder, the giant orc disappearing inside with Jorrar on his heels.
“You are too emotional. You’ll get yourself killed. Let us handle it.”
“Us? Wait, Maer—”
But she disappeared into the house after the others.
“No!” he shouted after her.
Raine snarled, pacing and pulling at his hair. Maeryn was inside the burning house. With his sister. And the children. The world narrowed and all he could see was the inferno before him.
Please be okay. Please be okay. Please be okay.
He caught a glimpse of a beam as it fell, sparks spraying with the impact. The scent of charred wood tickled his nose. His heart thrummed a frantic rhythm in his chest as he took an involuntary step forward.
It took every bit of strength not to go in after them. Clenching his fists, he whispered prayers under his breath, staring into the flames.
Hurry. Oh gods, hurry.
After what felt like an eternity, a figure appeared through the smoke. Maeryn stepped out, clutching Jorrar’s sobbing granddaughter. Jorrar came next, carrying his grandson. Finally, Pax emerged, Fanya limp and unconscious in his embrace.
Raine rushed forward. “Fanya.”
He pushed a lock of curly platinum hair out of her face. Her pale skin was covered in soot, her clothing charred, revealing blisters along her arms and torso.
“She’s breathing,” Pax said, his face drawn tight with worry.
Raine released a breath. Alive. She was alive.
Jorrar’s granddaughter, Aria, continued to wail. “You’re safe, little one,” Maeryn cooed, tightening her grip. “I have you. It’s alright now.”
“We must get them to the healers,” Jorrar said, leading the way down the road.
Despite the state of his father and sister, Raine couldn’t help but admire the way Maeryn soothed Aria.
The sweet words she spoke as she shushed her and began to sing a quiet lullaby, rocking her as they walked.
Aria calmed, nuzzling into Maeryn’s warmth.
Maeryn looked up, meeting Raine’s gaze, and smiled warmly.
Raine returned her smile, and for a brief moment, time stood still. What an amazing mother Maeryn would have been if she’d had any children, and Raine couldn’t help but imagine…
“Archers in the trees!” someone shouted.
Raine spun around as an arrow headed straight for Maeryn and Aria. He threw himself in its path, trying to snatch it out of the air with a vine, but he wasn’t quick enough, shouting as it pierced his shoulder.
Fae soldiers drew their bows and turned toward their enemies.
“Let’s go!” shouted Pax, upping his pace.
A daemon hound leaped from behind a nearby home. Raine raised a hand and entrapped it in vines, but it broke through. Maeryn lit it with her magic, its screams echoing in the night as it burned.
More reinforcements arrived through a portal while citizens escaped through another.
Maeryn handed off Jorrar’s granddaughter, giving her a quick hug before they disappeared.
After ensuring his father and sister were through, Raine paused, catching his breath as he leaned against a tree, and closed his eyes for a moment of reprieve.
Their enemies had infiltrated Mosshaven. Had gotten past their forces. Had burned his childhood home and destroyed almost everything he’d ever known. He couldn’t get the sight of the flames out of his mind, how helpless his sister looked in Pax’s arms.
Something growled from his left. He’d been so lost in thought, he hadn’t heard anything approach. Opening his eyes, he came face to face with a lone daemon hound, venom dripping from its teeth as its white eyes bored into him.
It lunged, leaving no time for him to move. But a figure stepped in front of him, shoving him to the ground. The scream that tore out of Maeryn’s throat as the hound’s fangs pierced her thigh was nothing short of horrifying.
Raine was on his feet in seconds, encasing the hound in vines, trying to pull it off her.
A blur of white fur barreled into the monster, throwing it against a tree with a yelp. Sabriel leaped on the hound and ripped out its throat, black blood dripping from her jaws. More fae soldiers joined, closing in on their enemies and making quick work of the rest of the daemons and monsters.
Raine rushed to Maeryn, kneeling at her side.
His soulbond was hurt, and he was going to destroy anyone in his way to get her to Kai. The flesh of her thigh had been torn open, her muscle visible through her leathers. A cry of agony left her lips as she tried to stand.
“Absolutely not,” Raine ordered, scooping her into his arms.
“Your shoulder,” she moaned. “You mustn’t carry me.”
“Don’t be so stubborn,” he said. “Let’s get you to the healers.”
After going through another portal, Raine walked the halls of the castle, hardly able to ignore the worry clawing in his gut at the state of his father and older sister.
Maeryn clung to him, arms wrapped around his neck, and he couldn’t help but glance at her injury. “Why did you do that?”
“Do what?”
“Shove me out of the way and get yourself bitten. That was a terrible idea, boss.”
Eyes closed, she subtly nuzzled closer. “Probably for the same reason you took an arrow for me,” she whispered against the hollow at the base of his throat.
Raine’s heart almost stopped at the nearness of her. Allowing his cheek to brush the top of her hair, he inhaled. Her scent was like orange and lilacs. Alluring. Calling to him. Sharp and wild and yet…calm. Tranquil.
Ascending the stairs to the healer’s wing, he tightened his grip, trying not to shove his entire face in her hair and drown himself in the aroma of her.